Baby
by Grav
Summary: In which Sara trips on her tongue, Warrick is confused, and Catherine solves a mystery.


Disclaimer: CSI and all of its parts belong of course to Alliance Atlantis et al.  
  
Spoilers: Rather extreme for "Recipe for Murder" and everything before it to be safe.  
  
Post-ep for Recipe for Murder This was written immediately after the episode aired, but I have been having issues with ff.net, so this was the earliest I could post it.  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
Warrick had done a quick double take. Sara's face had turned slightly pink, and she hurriedly turned away to the closet, where, by shear luck, she had found the case breaking clue. Hank had said something to Sara on the way out that was too low for him to hear, but Warrick had seen Hank's face as the paramedic left. The prominent emotion the EMT's face was humour, slightly combined with awkwardness. With a nod, Hank had left the scene, and Warrick had gone back to processing the scene.  
  
Now, at the end of shift, Warrick sat, somewhat perplexed in the break room. There was no one around for him to play the theory game with; Nick was off, his emergency work for Grissom over, and Catherine and Grissom were tying up the loose ends of their night's work. Greg, who had come in for coffee, had reported that Grissom's case was rather exotic, and that he was ready to murder David Hodges. Warrick, in a attempt to make the lab tech feel better, had pointed out that killing someone in a crime lab probably wasn't among the wisest of decisions. The look Greg shot him could only be described as 'black', and Warrick had silently handed over the sugar and watched his frazzled friend go back off to the lab.  
  
Alone again, Warrick went back to his thoughts. What on earth had Sara meant? It was obvious to Warrick that Sara's slip had surprised Hank as much as it had him. But Warrick had no idea what would posses Sara to say something like that in the first place. There had to be a logical explanation. Warrick knew he wasn't as observant as Nick, but he was pretty sure that he would have noticed if Sara was involved in a relationship that had evolved to the point where terms of endearment were subconscious.  
  
The break room door opened again, and Brass came in. The interruption brought Warrick out of his ponderings and back to the present.  
  
"We're going out for dinner. Do you and Sara want to come?" Brass asked.  
  
"I think that any meal consumed at this time of day qualifies as breakfast, and Sara has already gone, but yes, I'll come." Warrick replied.  
  
Luckily, Greg had warned him about the case, and Warrick knew not to order sausage. Warrick's eggs, toast and bacon were all safe enough, and thus he was able to continue eating as his supervisor described his night's work in all its grisly detail. Catherine's face was a little pale, but she too was bravely working through her meal. Brass and Grissom were, of course, unaffected, but the same could not be said of the waiter. Warrick saw the expression on his face, and wondered what sorts of tales he would tell in the kitchen after they had left.  
  
After 'dinner', Warrick was finally able to get Catherine alone as he drove her back to the lab and her waiting car. Quickly, he outlined, what had happened, and then gave Catherine a few moments to process the information.  
  
"Well," she said finally "Sara keeps denying that she is involved with Hank, even when I asked her directly."  
  
"And Sara doesn't lie." Warrick pointed out.  
  
"It's more than that." Catherine said, "She can't lie. You saw her on the stand during that farcical trial. When that attorney asked her about Hank, she was indignant that anyone would imply she would compromise a case for personal reasons. But everything in Sara's face changed when she was asked about Grissom."  
  
"But that didn't compromise the case." Said Warrick, "And for the record, Gris did have chalk on his face. We were all covered in it."  
  
"That's beside the point." Said Catherine, a smile crossing her face. "The point is, as soon as she was asked, it was obvious on her face that she had done it, and that the chalk was only an excuse."  
  
"So what was with the comment tonight then?" Warrick asked, pulling the Tahoe into the lab's parking lot.  
  
"Give me some time, and I'll figure it out." Replied Catherine.  
  
Warrick smiled. "If you can't, no one can."  
  
Laughing, Catherine got out of the car and headed home.  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
"You'll never guess." Catherine smirked as Warrick navigated through the Las Vegas traffic on the way to a scene.  
  
"You keep saying that." Said Warrick, who by now had moved past amused frustration to flat out annoyance. "Just spill already."  
  
Catherine's grin grew, if possible, even larger and, at long last, she began to speak.  
  
"You remember the first time Sara and Hank met?" Warrick nodded, "It was the infamous gym bag case, and I gather that Hank told all the EMTs about it. They encouraged him to make a move, and when he went to ask her out, the smell made him sick."  
  
"Well it was pretty gross" Warrick said.  
  
"Yes" Catherine admitted, "But Hank was silly enough to tell that to all his friends too."  
  
Warrick shook his head at Hank's indiscretion.  
  
"And then, as if it couldn't be worse," Catherine continued, "I broke up their first date by dropping that finger into Sara's ice water."  
  
Warrick laughed flat out at that one.  
  
"So the long and the short of it is, Hank acquired a new nic name 'Baby' because he couldn't stomach dating a CSI. Catherine finished.  
  
"So why did he call her 'Baby' back then?" Warrick asked.  
  
"Nick told him about the pig and then about the saliva." Was the quick reply.  
  
"Man, was Nick trying to get himself killed?" Warrick demanded.  
  
"No." said Catherine, "If he'd been after death, he would have told Hank that the smell made Sara sick too."  
  
Warrick smiled. "I'm glad you figured that out. The suspense was killing me."  
  
The Tahoe came around one final turn, and came upon a collection of police cars, crime scene tape and an ambulance. Grabbing the kits, Warrick and Catherine made their way through the assembled observers, and under the tape. Warrick spotted a familiar face near the body.  
  
"Hello Baby."  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
A.N. Well I hope that makes you feel better. I know it made me feel better. I am particularly proud of the fact that it completely works. Review please, and tell me if I am doing all right. 


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